Persona: Sky's Fall
by ArcSele
Summary: Ametsuchi Kyou transfers to DeLeon academy to finish up high school after finding his family has scattered. The night after arriving a small man in a blue room speaks to him of a contract and his destiny. Even if his Journey has been forced upon him, Kyou is adamant in making the most of it. Main cast comprised of OCs. (Working title)
1. 1: Soe City

Been working on this for a few years but thought I should at least start. B Movie is still ongoing, just haven't finished the chapter yet.

Last but not least, even if I'm a little late for this, in memory of Unsho Ishizuka, the voice of Dojima, Professor Oak and a slew of other great characters.

[000]

I

"We will arriva at Katsura terminal in a few minutes. Those heading to Soe City and Soejima station please head to the other side of the platform." Kyou slowly opened his eyes, sluggishly following the directions he'd been given. Making his way home was taking longer than he'd thought, enough so to tire him out it seemed.

As he stepped off the train, something fluttered in Kyou's vision and he turned his head to look but whatever it had been was gone. He looked down at the directions he'd been given; no one was available to pick him up, either too far away to make the trip or not close enough to ask a ride from, which left him with walking the rest of the way.

 _This is fine. At least it gives me time to get used to this place._ Kyou looked up from his notes to make sure he hadn't taken a wrong turn, continuing on when he answered in the negative.

"This should be the place." A tall, imposing building stood in front of him. One of pale stone, with wrought iron cresting and a boxed off rooftop. The fine details of the place made it seem both regal and awkward with how out of place it was. It seemed fit for nobility of some kind rather than a dorm for high schoolers. Kyou went to the entrance and pushed in, quickly being greeted with cooler air and a pleasant scent. His eyes roamed across the inside, making note of the layout and heading to the counter to what he assumed to be the sign in sheet, writing his name and the time he came in before heading for the stairs.

Kyou knew no one should be here at the moment since school had already started and wouldn't let out for a few hours so he figured he'd get himself settled in now rather than wait for someone to help. Flipping the paper he'd used for directions, he found his room number and headed for the stairs, making his way to the second floor. Upon reaching the top, he headed to Room 7, opening the door and laying his bags on the floor.

He wouldn't be expected in school for a few days, and the day was long from over, not to mention his earlier exhaustion had waned a bit due to the nap he'd gotten in on the way. The best thing he could think of doing was heading out and looking around the town a bit, at least enough to catch all the nearest or most convenient places, he would leave the more detailed tour for the next week or so.

Kyou patted himself down to make sure he had everything he'd need for the short outing he'd planned and nodded when he found everything to his liking.

[0]

Hours later, when the sun had already sunken below the horizon, Kyou returned home, content with what he'd seen. Before choosing DeLeon, after hearing his family wouldn't be home for him to attend the local school, he'd made sure to at least look up the area for stores, recreational sites and the like but hadn't gone too far, more focused on affordability and entrance than anything. His brief skimming had brought seven areas to his attention, two of which he'd already been to. Those he'd already visited were the dorms and the station he'd arrived in, those he hadn't were the other station, the school, shrine, river and the mall. More could possibly come up but for now, he'd focus on these.

Kyou rolled his shoulders as he stepped back into the dorm, heading for the sheet and writing himself in again. As he looked around he saw there weren't many people in the lounge, which seemed a bit odd as the year was still relatively new and he thought most students would still be in the vacation mindset, but he shrugged and headed up to his room. When he stopped in front of his door, the exhaustion suddenly hit him again, practically dragging him to the floor. He'd been hoping to bathe before heading to bed but resolved to wake up early tomorrow so he could get it in then. It would be in bad taste to arrive, whether he'd be learning that day or not. As he was, Kyou felt lucky to drag himself onto his bed, slipping off his socks and under the covers before shutting his eyes, being pulled into sleep a few seconds later.

[0]

A piano was the first thing to grace Kyou's senses, one that was shortly followed by an Aria, both of the sound's sources unknown. When he opened his eyes he found himself inside a temple. The majority of the room was a royal blue, with different shades throughout. At the ends of the room, on opposite sides were two pillars. To the sides were two stained glass windows, the one to the left depicting a mask in front of a stark white face. The one to the right showed two butterflies circling each other. On the ceiling was a large painting, one whose quality and scale reminded Kyou of an ancient masterpiece beyond the modern era, though whenever he tried to focus on it the details blurred.

In the center lie a raised platform, the purpose of which escaped Kyou's mind. Directly in front of him was a short, hobbled man, his fingers steepled as he grinned up at Kyou. His bulbous, bloodshot eyes and the thin, wispy hair circling his crown did not endear him to Kyou either, though his attention quickly went to his nose; a large, sharp looking thing that extended some six inches or so past a normal person's. The sharp suit and polished shoes he wore did little to hide the fact that not only his appearance, but the very air around him seemed otherworldly.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." His voice was reedy and whimsical. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"Velvet?" Kyou only managed to get one word out, still too tired and shocked to do much more than observe.

"Yes, this is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter, although it seems that such a fate has yet to pass." His smile shifted a bit in a way that was foreboding yet told little. "And yet, I believe a bit of introductions are in order, as we will be helping with your duty, whatever it may be." This statement was punctuated by a chuckle and Igor waving his hand behind him, at which point a new person stepped forward.

The woman before Kyou could be easily summed up with the word breathtaking. Her hair was silver and curled, mostly hidden by some kind of headdress. Her body was covered by what seemed to be a cassock and shawl, with several golden buttons running down the center. Her face was unblemished but bare, with golden eyes that were staring intently at Kyou. "This is Agda. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"A pleasure," Her voice was soft and pleasant, Kyou instinctively bowed his head a bit before looking back to Igor.

"As you have yet to form your contract, the details shall come another time. Until then, farewell." With that being said, Igor closed his eyes and dipped his head, the area around Kyou fading shortly after.

[0]

Kyou opened his eyes, the vague memory of blue rooms and little men in the back of his mind. He tried to shake himself out of his slumber and went to put on the uniform he'd ordered beforehand before recalling that he'd gone to sleep dirty yesterday. He looked to the clock hanging on the wall and saw he had some time until he was expected. Kyou softly sighed and went to get cleaned up.

[0]

As he'd shown up a week or so into the school year, he'd already missed a bit, but his homeroom teacher, who'd introduced himself as Honma Junichi, assured him it would take no time at all to catch up. He'd been given a student ID and a student handbook, then told he would start tomorrow followed by a goodbye. Kyou assumed this was to give him a bit more time to adjust before he started.

"Kyou?" He turned his head upon hearing his name. "Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you transferred?" The person was his childhood friend, Daichi, though it seemed Kyou had finally gained a few inches on him. He, closed the distance and tilted his head, thinking a bit. "It was Hachigami, right?"

"Yasogami, and it was only for the year." Kyou corrected.

"I guess it doesn't matter, glad to have you here." Daichi clasped his friend's shoulder, shaking him as he did so. "So, were you here to register or something?" Kyou nodded and Daichi's smile came back, "Then since you're new to this school just let your senpai show you around."

Kyou raised a brow and shrugged off his friend's arm. "You're still in school."

The teen blinked a bit and then blew out a huff of air, "Damn, guess you're right. We'll just do it later then, where're you staying now, anyways? Doesn't your family live a few hours from here?" Kyou nodded, telling him of the circumstances. "The dorms, then? Alright, see you in a bit, yeah?" Kyou nodded and waved, heading back to the dorms for a bit of unpacking and such to busy himself until then.

[0]

"Fo over dere iv," Daichi stopped to swallow his food, "karaoke, and right next to that is the pharmacy, which might seem kind of odd but I'm not an architect or whatever so I couldn't really tell ya. At the very end is some kinda natural medicine place, they seem to have beef with the Pharmacy, and they have these pills that seem to help with exhaustion, so it gets a lot of traffic during exams." Daichi stopped to get another mouthful of takoyaki. "Damn, this stuff's good. Where was I? Oh yeah, in the middle over there is the arcade and-" Daichi went on, talking about his favorite places and the ones he though weren't worth their time or money. They'd met up at the dorms sometime after school had ended, originally just lazing about Kyou's room until Daichi had remembered why he'd come and hauled them both to the mall. Kyou had wondered if Daichi was in any clubs, apparently they wouldn't start up for another two or three weeks, unless they were the competitive type, of which Daichi wasn't. Another few hours passed with the two of them going around the places he'd pointed out and getting a feel for them. It was getting past nine when they decided to call it a day and head home, though that was mostly on Kyou, who'd suddenly started feeling tired a little before the hour had come. He'd told his friend he'd be in class 2-3, at which point Daichi had whooped and told him that was his class.

Stepping into the dorm, it was just as empty as the day before. Kyou was a bit more curious but shrugged it off again. If there was a reason, then he'd found out soon enough. He mustered the energy to clean himself up first before dragging himself to bed again. Upon entering his room, he pulled the covers back and flopped into bed, falling asleep just as quickly as yesterday. Right before he went under, he had a vague feeling he was forgetting something. Despite the feeling rising up, he wasn't awake long enough to recall what it was.


	2. 2: DeLeon Academy

II

The next day was his first at DeLeon and he'd gotten up early so he could take his time getting there.

"I can't believe such a thing would happen here." Kyou heard some gossiping women on their way somewhere. He briefly glanced at them as he continued walking, they were apparently on their way from a store, going off the bags in their arms. He couldn't really imagine why they'd decided to go so early in the day but didn't put much thought into it, making sure he remembered the way to school. He put on some headphones and tuned them out while speeding up a bit; he'd never really cared for chatty people all that much.

He'd have to report to the faculty office again before the teacher would bring him in to be introduced. He briefly looked back on the people he'd met last year. It had been a small town and most of them knew each other, though he'd still made friends easily enough. The fact that there wasn't much to do didn't really bother him, it had even been refreshing in a way and he was looking forward to using the fishing skills he'd cultivated.

Even as he'd fallen into reminiscing, he found his worries about getting to school had gone unfounded, the directions coming to him as he zoned out.

He made his way towards Mr. Honma and waited to be taken to class.

They made their way out of the office and up the stairs, taking a left after exiting the stairs. "Alright, I'm sure you know how this goes so just wait here for a second." Mr. Honma opened the door and stepped in, "Seats, everyone, I know this is rather early for a transfer but I'm sure you've already heard about it so I'll just let them introduce themselves." He didn't bother looking at Kyou and assumed that was enough of a cue. It was and Kyou smoothly stepped in, making his way next to the teacher.

"Ametsuchi Kyou, I hope we can all get along." He bowed and waited for Mr. Honma to tell him where to sit, ignoring the muttering that started as he introduced himself. It had been the same way all of junior high.

"Go ahead and sit next to Kurosawa over there," Kyou walked over to Daichi and sat down, giving him a thumbs up when Daichi smiled.

"Now, with that out of the way, let's get down to business, today we will be discussing Conic sections, specifically circle equations and ellipses." As the muttering quieted down, people were bringing out their textbooks and flipping to a page, leaving Kyou to glance over at Daichi's book as his friend groaned. It was good to know some things never changed.

[0]

As soon as lunch came, people made their way to Kyou, peppering him with questions and the like. He weathered them until the people drifted away, curiosity over the new guy satiated for now. He turned to Daichi and they made their way to the school store to get some lunch.

"I'd forgotten how much of a frenzy you stirred up whenever people saw you." Kyou saw a guy being swarmed by girls, weathering it with the patience of a saint.

"Who's that?" He pointed to get Daichi's attention.

"Hm? Oh, that's Akio, he's the son of the principal, and I'm pretty sure he's in the running to be student council president."

"Poor guy," Kyou had seen others swarmed by fans, upon talking to them they never seemed happy about it, which was understandable with just how loud they were. Not to mention the lack of personal space.

"What? Are we looking at the same guy? What's poor about him?"

"Does it look like he's enjoying it?" Daichi looked over to his face and shook his head when he saw the strained patience on it.

"Bah! What do either of you know? I'd take that attention in a heartbeat." Kyou just shrugged and they continued on their way to get food.

[0]

School had been mostly uneventful, most of the teachers had avoided calling on him, knowing that he was behind, except for his science teacher, one Ooe Takahashi, who seemed to take pleasure in lording his knowledge over the students. He'd wiped the smile off his face when he answered correctly but assumed this came at the cost of earning his ire.

He sighed. Maybe he'd have to switch out for some reason or another. Right.

Kyou was just planning on stopping off at the dorm to drop off his stuff and looking around a bit more, maybe fish a bit. He'd asked Daichi if he wanted to come along, but he'd been busy checking up on his brother. Since he was starting school, heading to the shrine sounded like a good idea.

It was a nice, quaint, place. One mostly devoid of people. Kyou washed his hands and mouth before throwing in a few hundred yen and ringing the bell. _Let this be a good year, or at least an alright one._ He rose out of prayer, heading out of the shrine. Despite the fact he'd hardly spent any time there, it was one of the farthest places he'd listed, the actual farthest being the station he hadn't used coming into the area. He wanted to go fishing at least once before he got busy with school.

A few hours later, Kyou found himself at Oyama river, which seemed to stretch through most of the town and a few others. He'd been expecting something much like with the shrine. Namely, no one, but when he arrived there was already someone else there, resting on the river bank. A man with bright blond hair. Unusual, but none of his concern. Kyou moved to the small platform in front of the water, bringing his rod out from behind him and adding the bait. The man had flinched upon hearing movement but eased up a bit when nothing happened. Kyou finished setting everything up and cast his line, sitting down with his legs crossed, anticipating a long wait. The man relaxed more as time went on, both sitting in silence.

When he saw movement around his line, Kyou tensed up, getting ready to plant his feet for support in order to reel in his catch. There was a tug and Kyou began the fight, his surroundings fading as he waged war on the fish at the end of his line. A few minutes passed and Kyou worried about how much longer he could last, trying to conserve his strength so as not to lose. _The fish must have sensed the need to draw this out_ , he reasoned, congratulating it on its prowess before a small smirk came onto his face. _But it won't be enough!_ At the moment of weakness, it came flying out of the water, no match for Kyou's prowess. The fish was large, not enough to match the legendary Guardian, but still a sizeable catch. _You were a worthy opponent._ He mentally acknowledged the flopping animal as he put it up to take back to the dorm. He would see if they had a kitchen he could use, otherwise, he supposed he could just give it to the school or Daichi.

Kyou's attention turned elsewhere as he heard clapping and a short whistle. He turned his head to the man he'd seen on arriving. Since neither of them had said anything the whole time, he'd honestly forgotten this guy was even here, but he accepted the applause with a bit of embarrassment.

"That was amazing! I have never seen such passion over fishing! I can't say I have ever seen such powerful or moving fishing before either, so I guess that might explain it." The man appeared to be doing more than just paying lip service, his face bright as he continued clapping for a bit. "Oh! I am sorry, I did not mean to interrupt your moment, please continue fishing." Kyou noticed his Japanese was a bit off and assumed he must be a foreigner, even if he couldn't imagine a reason for a tourist to be here. He waved the man's apologies off and turned back to continue, looking at the sky as he did. There were still a few hours left and he would make the most of them before heading back.

[0]

The next day of school was filled with a bit more excitement. For one thing, he had learned that he would indeed be a prime target of Mr. Ooe's wrath when he'd been picked to answer a question in class again, but more than that, he'd learned that today was the last day of elections for the student council president. He hadn't been expected to vote as this was only his second day there, but he was nonetheless informed about it. There were only four people in the running, two of which weren't really taken all that seriously. One of the serious contenders, and possibly the one in the lead from what he was hearing, was Akio, the guy he'd seen yesterday. Kyou had wished him the best of luck with both the election and his seemingly rabid fanbase.

That had been some time ago, and now he was going to bed. For some reason he was basically dead on his feet, trusting his body to go through the motions to lead him home and his bed. It was worse than it had been the rest of the week and the only reason he knew he made it into bed was the feeling of his body hitting something soft. He didn't even get under the covers before falling asleep.

Right before losing consciousness, as he was on his way down, he remembered the Velvet Room and its two occupants, but beyond that, he saw something flutter before his vision and felt something in his soul stirring.


	3. 3: Awakening

III

It is through living and experiencing things that we gain pleasure, it is through living and experiencing that we gain misery, it is by stalling and procrastination that we gain apathy and stagnate. One must be willing to give up their happiness, even if that sacrifice ends in defeat and regret.

Life had been normal with normal splashes of excitement, just like anyone else; and then he was lost.

The room had been colored in blue as far as the eye could see; and then there was nothing.

He'd dreamt of many things: anger, happiness, life, death, giving, taking; and then, he woke up.

[0]

The room he found himself in was plain. Not in the sense he was used to, but plain all the same. Instead of the expected beige or white, it was gray, like a pencil or a cinder block. Kyou stood from his place on the floor, dusting himself off to busy his hands as he wondered what he should do.

Weird as it was, he felt something pulling at him, drawing him to continue on, rather than brush it off and try to wake up, since there was no way this was anything but a dream. He supposed he would just take it a step at a time. Not really any way to guess what was going to happen. The door opened smoothly and quietly, to such an extent it didn't seem like it could really exist, being much too light for how it looked and felt. He walked through the hallway silently, a touch unnerved as he heard his own footsteps.

As a few minutes passed, he found that each hallway was the same as the one before it, mind-numbing in just how plain and uneventful they were. This became less of a complaint when he stepped into a room about the size of the dorm lounge. It wasn't so much the room that was the problem as its occupant. A large wolf, or something similar enough to not really matter in this case, sniffed about the room. It was gray and mangy, a stench wafting off it in waves and while normally padding might be the word used to describe one moving, this one's claws were far too long to be described as such, seeming more like steak knives than something that belonged on an animal. Kyou swallowed nervously, not moving for fear that he would alert the beast.

He needn't have worried, as his mere presence did the job well enough. Shortly after looking it over, the thing turned to Kyou, his stomach dropping as it did so. Rather than a snout, its face seemed to be a large ball of droopy flesh, the forefront of which had a golden mask with the number IX crudely carved into it. The fact it didn't have a mouth did nothing to stop the drool he saw oozing through the cracks in the mask as it started to prowl towards him. Kyou's heartbeat was rapidly picking up as he stared it down.

As soon it was a dozen or so feet away, the thing leapt at him, its claws moving to tear him apart. Kyou dodged to the side, kicking out at it. The blow landed but didn't really seem to do much as the beast shook it off, leaping at him again, forced to claw at him due to its lack of a mouth. Kyou leapt back, stomping at its mask in hopes of breaking it since he assumed – or hoped, really – that it would act like any normal animal and die without its head, even if the mask was only a part of it. The blow landed and he saw a tiny crack appear, hoping for a second that would be enough, but having to quickly retreat when it swiped at him. Pain jolted through him as the claws glanced his arm. Having his attention drawn away for a second was enough for the thing to jump him again, pinning him down and somehow rumbling at him through its mask. Terror rolled through Kyou for a second, the fact this was most likely a dream irrelevant at the sight of this thing's face moving towards him, especially when he saw teeth unfurling from the hole in the center, like a guillotine, except that it was actually drawing closer. His body shook and as his pulse spiked he felt something rising in his soul, a feeling of desperation drawing up something other, his perception speeding up as it did.

 **Oh dear, it appears you are in a bit of a sore state, allow me to help with that.**

His eyes widened, the feeling from earlier strengthening, it was a bit chilly, but in a way that was…invigorating. Kyou shoved his hands forward, hoping to get the monster off of him.

It worked far better than he'd been expecting, the thing went flying, a terrible grating sound heard as it tried to hold its ground by digging its claws into the floor. It growled at him, a bit wary now that he'd shown to not be as much of a pushover as it had been expecting.

Kyou growled right back, the frigid feeling circulating through his body and making everything slightly hazy.

 **Good, very good. However, you will need more to finish it off. Take all your feelings; your fear, your apprehension, and twist it to your whim. Add it to your power and let us show this beast its place!**

He felt power exponentially rising in the span of a couple seconds before it suddenly condensed into one spot and looked down as he felt something settle on his body.

A disk had settled onto his torso, it was pristine and pale, like someone had attached a slab of marble onto his body, right where his heart was. Despite his confusion at seeing the thing on his person he reached up to the small rung at the end of the thing and pulled. A phrase slipping through as he did.

 **Per. So. Na.**

The moment the disk was free of his person, some of the power he'd felt blasted through, swirling wildly as it started to take shape.

It was pale and flawless, like a porcelain doll, golden hair waving in the winds of its creation, on top of which rested a crown of soft, downy feathers. Curling around most of its body was a single, white, cloth, almost as pale as the figure. Six light golden wings stretched as if recovering from a long time asleep. In stark contrast to the bright, almost holy feeling the figure gave off, there were two black marks along its right wrist and ankle.

Despite most of the power he felt going into this thing, Kyou still felt ready to take on the wolf by himself, even if he knew he didn't need to as he saw the thing he'd summoned raise a hand, shortly after which the wolf's body had been frozen solid, shattering as it was tackled.

Without anything to fight, the being he'd summoned dissipated, a light tittering heard as it did.

Kyou could still feel most of the energy from before, which was just as well since he had no idea how much longer he had until he could get out of this place. Or wake up. He was still kind of holding out hope that that would happen.

He made his way out of the room, feeling lighter than before. As he did, a sound reminiscent of sloshing muck could be heard. Kyou turned his head around, looking for what could be making the noise and saw a stain on the ceiling drop down, splatting noisily on the floor in front of him. The goop collected itself, a blue diamond mask starting to rise out of its body. Without a second thought, Kyou stepped down on the mask, not giving it a chance to fully form.

After the seventh or eighth hit, the mask shattered, less than half a second from fully forming. The blob lost its cohesion and quickly dissipated, some wisps of light going into him as it did. This was only the second of the monsters he'd seen but he was already tired of them. Looking at where the thing had come from revealed a pipe in disrepair, which Kyou quickly jumped towards, grabbing at it to wrench it out of the ceiling and use it to protect himself. After struggling with it for a few seconds he almost fell as he finally managed to pull it out of place. He sighed and resigned himself to wandering around for a bit longer. If this wasn't a dream, he would be quite tired tomorrow.

[0]

An undetermined amount of time had passed with Kyou looking through different rooms, deeply wishing he would find the way out and sighing when he saw that he hadn't. He'd come across a few more of the monsters from before, which he'd taken to calling Shadows, in reference to the thing he'd summoned and how they almost seemed to be hunting for him after he'd awakened to it.

After finishing off another of the blobs he found himself in front of a door, the lock just as plain as the rest of the place he'd seen so far. He crouched down to look at it more closely, even if his plan was just to hit it until it broke, but his brows rose when he heard a click and watched the padlock drop to the floor, dissipating just like the Shadows had.

The door opened before he had a chance to touch it, almost as if it was welcoming him in. Kyou obliged, if only because he didn't know what else to do, getting a bit suspicious when the room was revealed to be the largest of any he'd come across, somewhere around the size of a few classes pushed together. His suspicion became caution when he laid his eyes upon a sword and large set of armor at the end of the room. It stood around seven feet tall, made of metal just a touch darker than everything else he'd seen before. Simple as it seemed, he thought this time it was a matter of functionality over aesthetic.

As the door was behind it, Kyou didn't see any way past walking to it, confidently making his way towards it. Less than ten feet away, the armor came to life, its head rising and visor lighting up with a dim yellow glow. Slowly it stood, metal joints creaking as Kyou's eyes drifted to its stomach and the white light just above it. When it stood to its full height, the armor raised its hand and planted it on the sword, not making to draw the weapon out of the floor. The other hand raised, pointing to Kyou and beckoning to him.

For a second, he considered what to do, determined to get past it but not wanting to get close to the giant slab of steel that it held in its left hand. He nodded his head and reached for the disk on his chest, pulling at it. The angelic figure rose into the air, measuring up the enemy before it. His hand rose just as it had the first time, calling for chunks of ice to encase the armor, following up with a small blue blast when the ice was ignored, even as it still clung to it. Kyou dashed around the imposing figure, hoping it would follow him so his Persona could launch attacks without fear of retaliation. Even if Kyou got hit, it would take quite the hit to dispel his Persona, whereas any solid blow directly to the angel would tear it apart. He internally sighed in relief when the enemy turned to him, shortly followed by panic when it flung a fireball at him. He raised the pipe he'd picked up, swinging at it to dissipate the projectile. He looked at the armor, seeing an opening into the empty innards when it cast its spell. He flicked his eyes to Helel, directing it to conserve energy and attack when an opening presented itself. His eyes widened when another ball of fire slammed into the angel and canceled it out, shortly after feeling the slight backlash in his mind and a hand slamming into his body as the armor used the distraction to charge him, being launched into the wall a second later. For the first time, the enemy raised its sword, the large blade gleaming in the light. The sword came crashing down a second later, barely held back from crushing Kyou by the pipe in his hands and the quick summoning of Helel, even as it dissipated again from the force of the blow. Kyou slipped under the armor, sliding under its legs and sloppily rolling to his feet, ripping off the disk again and lashing out at the one in front of him. He threw himself to the side again as its right gauntlet swung wildly, Helel having flown back to get some room and launching small spears of light at the moment of attack. The armor suddenly jerked, the blades of light having gone clean through the whole thing, not to mention the handful of others peppering its body. Kyou took advantage of its pause and dashed in, gripping its arm and tearing it out from the shoulder down. He weathered the swing of the sword as best he could, stumbling as he was shoved back a few feet. His arms and stomach were rebelling against him, aching at being forced to accept such heavy blows. He ran away again, turning to instruct Helel. Having not used him that long was really adding to a list of problems that were much too long already. Kyou looked behind him, getting ready to face the armor again and pivoting when he saw it heading for his Persona. Even if it could outrun the armor, it needed to focus to attack and Kyou would much rather that since he wasn't capable of the damage Helel was.

It was because of this that Kyou found himself running to his summon's rescue, swinging at the armor again, if only to distract it. Even with more than half of its arm gone, the armor still made do, leaning more into the blow, causing Kyou to duck under than the attack rather than just ignoring it. He swung at the chest, moving past the pain in his arms as it did little more than draw his enemy's attention. He turned to Helel, telling it to do what he hoped would be enough to finish this. His head whipped back upon hearing a loud series of cracks from behind to see that the armor was being pelted by blasts of ice, each one being funneled through the hole in its arm. While frost formed throughout the torso, Kyou wound up, praying under his breath that this would be enough.

The pipe went clean through, the rest of the body collapsing due to the chunk suddenly missing from it. Even as it did, Kyou still saw the light in the visor and moved to the side, calling his Persona to run one last attack through it. Helel complied, sending a barb of light through the helm, falling apart before the attack had made contact.

Kyou raised the pipe slowly, bringing it down as hard as his tired body could, dropping it and unceremoniously plopping himself down on the ground afterward. The teen was panting heavily and waiting to see if the enemy would rise again. A few minutes passed and he caught his breath, slowly picking himself up and making his way to the door. Now he needed this to be the way out, being on his last legs as he was.

A few steps in and the area around started to fade, something which Kyou hoped was a good sign.

[0]

Kyou hadn't expected to find himself standing in the Velvet Room again, having walked out the door to what he hoped would be his bed. "So, we meet again." Igor grinned, seemingly pleased by the turn of events, he waved his hand, a small object appearing and slowly floating to Kyou. "Hold on to this." Kyou blinked, seeing that the object was a key as it landed in his hand, at which point it sunk into him. "Henceforth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room."

Kyou stared at them, confused. "I thought you said only those who signed the contract could enter here. I don't remember doing anything like that."

Igor continued smiling at him, some unknown signal passing between him and Agda since she replied in his place. "In the place you fought, you awakened to your power, your Persona. This is all that was needed."

"Indeed, and as such, we of the Velvet Room will help to hone your power and seek out your destiny. In exchange, I only ask that you abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices made."

Kyou nodded, not happy with the circumstances, but willing to see them through regardless. Igor chuckled again, smile widening "I look forward to seeing how your future unfolds. Until the next time we meet, farewell."

His vision faded again, this time, he hoped, it would be to find himself in his own bed. He needed rest, especially after this.


End file.
